The Wall Street Journal: Big News for People Who Spend Hours Staring at Maps on Planes

The next generation of in-flight trackers will offer a much higher level of detail, taking fliers in a new, more commercial, direction.

The in-flight moving map, object of fascination for travel geeks and impatient fliers, is going in a new direction. But have your credit card ready: The beloved map will become one more revenue-generator for airlines.

Maps are the most popular elements of in-flight entertainment systems, capturing passenger attention by posting live updates about a trip, most importantly when you’ll arrive. Airlines offer movies, TV shows, podcasts and games on entertainment systems, but the boring map, which made its debut over 30 years ago, turns out to be the most useful, maybe even anxiety-reducing, focus of bored passengers.

The map gives you a sense of control, showing not only exactly where you are, but altitude, airspeed, time zone, temperature, distance traveled and miles left to go. For some, there’s a sense of adventure built in: You may never visit the Faeroe Islands, but you feel like you’ve been there when your flight draws a line over them.